The gift of a buffalo to the ti dairy must take place on a Thursday or Sunday. On the morning of the day the man making the offering, who is called the irnörtpol, abstains from food and goes to the ti mad with a female calf between one and two years of age. He may be accompanied by other men, usually those closely related to him. The men go to the outskirts of the dairy and wait there till the morning business of the dairy is concluded, each man carrying a green stick, either a kwadrikurs or avelashkikurs. When the palol has finished his work he goes towards the men on the outskirts of the dairy, also carrying a stick of the same kind, and as he approaches, the other men drive the calf towards him, and when it reaches the palol, he drives it so that it joins the buffaloes of his herd. The palol then gives food to the irnörtpol and his companions, who eat it on the spot, where they remain till after sunset, when they return home. If the calf given belongs to the putiir, it becomes one of the punir of the ti, but if it is of one of the sacred kinds, pasthir, wursulir, &c., it joins one of the sacred herds of the ti.
Irnörtiti, Tuninörtiti and Pilinörtiti
We now come to three kinds of offering, with their attendant ceremonial, which are of a much more complex nature. These are irnörtiti, tuninörtiti and pilinörtiti, in which the offerings are a buffalo calf, a piece of the cloth called tuni, and a silver ring respectively. The first two offerings are made only when one of a certain number of recognised offences has been committed, and in order to bring about the removal of some misfortune which has befallen the offender. Pilinörtiti, on the other hand, is usually performed to bring about the cessation of some ill-fortune which is not due to any fault on the part of the sufferer, but it may also be done in expiation of an offence.
One essential feature common to all three offerings is that [[295]]the primary divisions of the clan called kudr (see p. [542]) here become of importance.
Nearly every Toda clan is divided into two kudr, and the offerings in the three ceremonies always pass from one kudr to the other. The offering which is given by a man of one kudr becomes the property of the members of the other kudr. At the present time the kudr is of no importance except in connexion with these ceremonies, and, so far as I could learn, it never had any other significance. There are a few clans of recent origin which have no kudr, and members of these clans cannot make the offerings. In other clans, one kudr has become extinct, and so long as no occasion for these ceremonies should arise, nothing is done to supply the deficiency. As a general rule, it is only when some trouble arises which may require one or other of these ceremonies that a redistribution of the members of the clan is made, and it is decided that one or more of the pòlm or smaller sub-divisions of the clan shall be constituted a new kudr.
The following are the chief offences for which the irnörtiti or tuninörtiti ceremonies have to be performed:—
(i) Stealing milk, butter, buttermilk, or ghi from the dairy.
(ii) Going to the dairy after having had intercourse with a woman in the day-time.
(iii) Quarrelling between people of the same clan on a feast day.